Hi, welcome to the Little Craftisan blog and buckle in for a story behind this crochet pattern...
Parts of the pattern are here:
Background
Let’s start with the background for this scarf. I made a Hungry Caterpillar sleeping bag for Miss3 when she was a baby.
This was back in 2017 and it used 4-5 different shades of green. And the truth of the matter - she hated it and never got into it as a baby. So it’s not like it’s an heirloom piece I wanted to keep as I didnt get to use it for any photo shoot style photos.
I kept it stashed in a memory box of baby clothes, and everytime I saw it I shook my head at my foolishness of making something which was never really used.
Fast forward 3 years, Miss3 found it again and tried to squeeze herself into it. Needless to say, it was far too small. She sweetly asked to have to remade into a bigger size, as well as a brown cocoon and butterfly wings to complete the transformation. (That‘s a story for another blog post, you’ll laugh at my attempts to sketch the costume.)
More of the story follows...
So I frogged the whole thing.
Yep, all of that yarn. I had massive balls of Stylecraft Special in all the green shades. Ready to be reused. Except to get the chunky effect - I had held the yarn triple so I had a big poofy ball of 3 strands wound together.
Then I frogged a Spider-Man scarf I made 2 years because I went on a frogging-bender. But, that was a good because I had lots of red yarn - which would come in useful for the piranha head (my brain subconsciously had a plan!)
I digress a lot; back to the Caterpillar outfit story (it merges with the piranha story, I promise!)
I couldn’t find any preschooler size Hungry Caterpillar crochet outfits. They’re all sewing patterns, which I can’t do for toffee. I can sew a face mask and pyjama pants, but that’s it.
So the frogged-yarn was there, silently teasing and tantalising me with potential ideas, wrapped in HUGE yarn balls, ready to be used. I was wondering whether to learn how to sew, because Miss3 was firm that she didn’t want a Hungry Caterpillar crochet dress, or even crochet dungarees.
But she was insistent she wanted something crocheted. I started to calculate how many balls of Stylecraft I was going to need. The answer is, A LOT.
That little girl, she sets the bar high for things she wants me to craft for her. VERY specific requests. I adore her vision and imagination, she is awesome.
At the same time, I’m making the piranha bookmark as a present for my Mario mad eldest child.
In a similar fashion to my daughter, my son decided he wanted a new scarf after tying the bookmark around his Mario soft toy like a scarf.
That’s code for ‘he wants ME to make him a scarf.’
I really do think that my children are my most demanding customers to date. But they’re also returning customers, so that’s a huge compliment.
Finally, I decide to repurpose the Caterpillar yarn for a piranha plant scarf, because why not? All I have to do is size it up it in places?
End of the story in sight: here is the resized pattern for the scarf.
I’ve been lazy blogger and copied/pasted from the bookmark pattern, so you might find phrases identical to the other pattern.
But if you haven’t read that pattern, you’ll find my charming and unique description of the pattern below 😂
NOTE: YOU COULD DO THIS WITH CHUNKY WEIGHT YARN. But....
Sorry, looks like I’m shouting, but it’s just to get your attention... However, there aren’t as many shades of chunky green available, in the Stylecraft range anyway.
My version, I used one DK skein of each colour, and wound up into little balls of 33g from each skein. I could hold the yarn triple to create a thicker scarf - which also crochets up faster whilst having all the colourways of DK at my disposal.
Materials:
For the pipe
4 shades of Stylecraft special green yarn dk (2 mid shades of green with one darker, pale pistachio shade, dark bottle green shade)
Shades I used:
shade A 1x skein Stylecraft Special DK Kelly Green
shade B 1 x skein Stylecraft Special DK Pistachio
shade C 1 x skein Stylecraft Special DK Green
shade D 1 x skein Stylecraft Special DK Bottle
For edging around the pipe:
1 x skein Stylecraft Special DK Black
For the piranha head:
1 x skein Stylecraft Special DK Lipstick
1 x skein Stylecraft Special DK White
Tools
8.0 mm hook
Tapestry needle for sewing in ends
Stitches
(UK crochet terms)
Ch = chain
st = stitch
dc = double crochet
Dc increase = 2 dc into st (you can do it invisibly, by doing a dc into front loop, then dc into both loops)
htr = half treble
tr = treble
mc = magic circle
sl st = slip stitch
bk bp = back bump
yo = yarn over
wide dc decrease = insert hook into next st, yo and pull up a loop, skip the next st, insert hook into next st, yo and pull up a loop. Yo and pull through the loops on hook.
Pipe Pattern
Note: With the bookmark I used yarn under, however in the interest of a floppy and comfortable scarf, I used yarn over (normal non-amigurumi way to crochet) .
Row 1:
With 8.0 mm hook and shade A, the lighter of the middle green shades (Stylecraft Special DK Kelly Green) ch 151.
I feel like I made the scarf too long as I didn’t take into account the length of the piranha head - so I think a chain or 121 would be better suited to a regular sized scarf.
Row 2:
Turn, dc in 2nd st from hook. Then dc 149 (150 st in total)
Row 3:
Join shade B (pistachio). ch 1, dc 150 in the front loops (gives a lovely straight line effect and cuts down on the weird houndstooth effect when changing colours)
Ok, so going to do a short cut now. For the colour change rows, dc in front loops. Below is the key for the shade orders
Row 4: shade A
Row 5-6: shade B
Row 7-8: shade C
Row 9: shade D
Row 10: shade C
Row 11-12: Shade D
Weave in ends.
Using black yarn (Stylecraft Black held treble) and 8.0 mm crochet hook dc around the edges. When going round a corner, dc, ch2, dc into same st. DON‘T dc around one of the short sides as you’ll be joining the lip of the pipe to it.
Top of pipe pattern
Row 1:
With 8.0mm and shade A, ch 7.
Row 2-3: ch 1, turn, dc 6.
Row 4: change to shade B, ch 1, dc 6 in front loops.
Row 5: change to shade A, ch 1, dc in front loops.
Remember to dc in front on the colour change rows.
Rows 6-7: shade B
Rows 8-11: Shade C
Row 12: Shade D
Row 13: Shade C
Rows 14-16: Shade D.
Sew in ends.
Dc round with black yarn, in same manner as for the main pipe.
Dc with black yarn through the main pipe and pipe lip together. If you prefer, you could sew it together, but I like the consistency of having a dc edging all the way around.
Piranha head pattern
I’ve staggered the increases in the pattern which results in a rounder head which shouldn’t have any weird and obvious hexagonal type sides to it. Let me know what you think!
Row 1: With 3.5 mm hook and red yarn, mc and dc 6 into circle. Turn. (6)
DO NOT SLIP STITCH TO JOIN CIRCLE 😁 Row 2: Ch 1, dc inc into each st. Ch1. Turn. (12)
Row 3: Dc, ( dc inc, dc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (17)
Row 4: Dc, (dc, dc inc, dc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (22)
Row 5: Dc, (dc inc, dc3) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (27)
Row 6: Dc, (dc 2, dc inc, dc 2) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (32)
Row 7: Dc, (dc 5, dc inc) 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (37)
Row 8: Dc, (dc 4, dc inc, 2 dc)* 5 times, dc. Ch1. Turn. (42)
Row 9: Dc, (dc 7, dc)* 5 times, dc. Ch 1. Turn. (47)
Row 9: sl st round.
Sew in ends.
Piranha teeth pattern
Using 8.0mm hook and 3 strands of white DK yarn held together.
Join with sl st to the inside open jaws of the piranha plant.
Row 1: dc 9, wide Dec, dc 9. Ch 1. Turn. Row 2: dc into next st.
1st tooth = Ch 4, turn, working in back bumps, sl st, dc 2, sl st into base of ch4.
Dc 2.
2nd tooth = Ch 4, turn, working in back bumps, sl st, dc 2, sl st into base of ch4.
Dc 2
3rd tooth = ch 3, turn, working in back bumps, sl st, dc, sl st into base of ch 3.
Dc 2
Wide dec.
Dc 2.
Now working up the other side of the jaw. Working mirror image of teeth, using sl st 2 to separate the teeth.
Cut yarn and sew in ends.
Piranha lips pattern - make 2
Using 8.0 mm hook and white yarn.
Row 1: Ch 30, starting in 2nd bk bp from hook and working in bk bp, dc 13, wide dc decrease, dc 13.
Row 2: ch 1 and turn. Htr, 2tr, 2tr, htr, dc 8, wide decrease, dc 8, htr, 2tr, 2tr, 2htr.
Working round to the underside of the lips, 3htr, dc, sl st 10, dc, htr, 2tr, htr, dc, sl st 10, dc, 3htr. htr in starting st.
Cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing the lips to the piranha.
Pin lips to the piranha head so that the teeth are still showing behind the lips.
Also, make sure to pin into the place the 2tr at bottom spot of the V point so it covers the MC of the red piranha head underneath so it gives the impression that the lips/jaws are big.
I used running stitch to sew both lips into place at the same time. It’s tricky, but saves time and secured the lips more firmly.
Piranha spots pattern
Small spot (make 1)
With 8.0mm hook and white dk yarn held triple.
Row 1: Mc, dc 6 into mc. sl st into first dc to close ring.
Row 2: Ch 1, 2dc into each st (12)
Cut yarn and leave a long tail to sew onto piranha head.
Large spot (make 2)
With 8.0mm hook and white dk yarn held triple.
Row 1: Mc, dc 6 into mc. sl st into first dc to close ring.
Row 2: Ch 1, 2dc into each st (12)
Row 3: Ch 1, (dc, 2dc inc)* 6 times (18).
Cut yarn and leave a long tail to sew onto piranha head.
I positioned the spots asymmetrically. I might be tempted to make a few semi circles to put along the edges to complete the look if I made this again.
Piranha leaves pattern - make 2.
Using 8.0 mm hook and shade C.
Row 1: Ch 11. Ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: Working in back bumps:dc across. (10 st)
Ch1, working round to the other side of the chain: dc across. Cut yarn, leaving tail to weave in ends.
Join with shade A, ch 1, working round again:
dc 2, htr 2, tr 2, htr 2, dc 2.
creating point at the end of the leaf:
Sl st. Ch 3, sl st in 2nd bk bp to create a little picot point. sl st into base at bottom. If the ch 3.
Working round to the other side of the ch:
dc 2, htr 2, tr 2, htr 2, dc 2, sl st.
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing onto stem.
Stem
In shade A (Kelly Green) held triple, and 8.00 hook,
ch 7, turn, dc 6. *ch 1, dc 6.* repeat 3 times so you have 5 rows of dc. Sew onto middle of pipe and middle of the bottom of piranha head.
Tip, I turned the little piece of stem sideways, so that the piranha head doesn’t stretch it out (as the head is quite big and I can foresee it stretching the stem otherwise with prolonged use)
Let me know if you make your own pattern and use #littlecraftisan on IG or FB if you make your own scarf. I’d love to see what you make. Wish me luck with the piranha mittens! Oh, don‘t worry, Miss3 will still get a caterpillar outfit, eventually!
I just gotta figure out where to store ALL the green yarn I need to buy for it.
Ange 😉